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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320738">The start of something new</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bacner/pseuds/Bacner'>Bacner</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Iron Man (Marvel Movies), MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), captain america: civil war - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CyberTek, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Healing, Post-CA:CW movie, Siberia, Something New, Stark Industries, The Avengers - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:54:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,891</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bacner/pseuds/Bacner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-CA:CW movie. Tony Stark is found in the bunker by Rumlow, who needs some recuperation himself. Things go sideways after this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Lynn Palamas/Grant Ward, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The start of something new</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/beckysue_bonner/gifts">beckysue_bonner</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwalk1_2002/gifts">dwalk1_2002</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacee_21076/gifts">jacee_21076</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: Marvel owns everyone here.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once upon a time, there was a person named Tony Stark, and he was the Iron Man. Well, that was his usual state of being, but right now his state of being wasn’t his usual: he was largely disabled by his former friend Captain America slash Steve Rogers by the latter’s own shield, (which had been made by Tony’s own father, the late Howard Stark). This was bad enough, but at this corner of the multiverse, Tony was also stuck in a disabled and abandoned bunker in Siberia, a place that isn’t really inviting or healthy; the fact that right now this version of Siberia was also experiencing its’ late winter/early spring, (the two seasons aren’t that different in Siberia), was only making things worse.</p>
<p>…So, to summarize: Tony Stark may have been the Iron Man of the Avengers, but he was also largely disabled and disarmed and incapacitated, and also stuck in an abandoned dark bunker during a Siberian winter – a very bad state to be in, frankly, and did we mention that it was dark? Now that everyone else was gone, there was no real light sources here, aside from an occasional window here or there, (hollow and empty, allowing the… brisk wintry Siberian breezes to blow freely to and fro), and whatever light sources that Tony’s armor had – and they were dying fast.</p>
<p>Not that Tony was caring about his light sources all that much: “Must contact Pepper or Rho- Vision,” he muttered, “before things can get any worse-“</p>
<p>“Really? They still can?” someone asked in a highly sarcastic, mocking tone and a hand that felt almost as big and hard as the Hulk’s, but nowhere as friendly, grasped one of Tony’s shoulders and lifted him into mid-air, to the speaker’s eye level. </p>
<p>Again, the speaker was not as tall or as broad-shouldered as the Hulk was, but he was still bigger, taller, and more broad-shouldered than Tony was, and with his current armor being disabled, this was bad.</p>
<p>“Hello,” Tony said cheerfully. “My name is Tony Stark. And you are-?”</p>
<p>“You mean, your best buddy Steve-o didn’t tell you about me? I’m crushed!” his interlocutor grinned – with his patchwork and skin and hair style it only made him look more like a humanoid boar, and boy, wasn’t that a bad sign? “I’m Brock Rumlow, also known as Crossbones, and I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance!” The grip on Tony’s shoulder stiffened, sending sparks of new pain down his already bruised and battered body.</p>
<p>“In case you haven’t seen the shield over there,” Tony spoke fast, but still was unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice, self-preservation or not, “let me tell you – me and Steve-o as you have called him, aren’t best buddies anymore – that’s Bucky, apparently, now-“</p>
<p>“Hm?” Crossbones seemed to be genuinely confused by Tony’s statement: his grip on Tony’s shoulder relaxed and he… effortlessly moved to the currently discarded shield, which he picked up without breaking stride, (or letting Tony go), and practically sniffed, in a non-entirely-human manner. </p>
<p>“…Okay, so Barnes really was here,” Crossbones mused, as he put the shield onto his back. “And Steve-o left you here while he went with him,” he tapped upon the now fractured reactor in Tony’s chest. “Hm. If I do not break you, will you owe me one? I could use a robotics’ expert if I am to jumpstart my version of Hydra-“</p>
<p>Tony knew that if Steve-o – he meant Steve - would be here, he would reject Crossbones’ offer outright, but Tony was not that man, so what he told Rumlow instead was:<br/>“Certainly, if you ever get me to New York I’ll be happy to negotiate with you-“</p>
<p>“You must think that I’m genuinely stupid,” Crossbones said flatly, in an odd tone of voice and rasped Tony on the forehead – seemingly not hard, but enough to black the Iron Man out…</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>/ / /</p>
</div><i>Some time later, (apparently)…</i><p>When Tony awoke, he… was not feeling so bad; actually, he was feeling quite decent for some-one who fought Captain America to a standstill, lost his power source at the end, became trapped in a defunct Cold War bunker and got roughened-up by… someone, (or something?) who seemed to be pro-Hydra of all things…</p>
<p>“Mr. Stark? Moreover, how are you feeling? Has Rumlow messed you up too badly?” A woman’s voice, sounding pleasant, speaking English, but with a trace of some accent, shook Tony out of his inner musings. Tony opened his eyes and saw a rather pleasant-looking woman, looking down at him in genuine concern.</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” Tony looked around and saw that he was patched-up – professionally, in an almost military fashion, yet certainly not how he would have been patched-up in Stark tower by his personal doctors, (and maybe Friday? Tony was not sure if he had installed medical protocols and procedures in his newest AI, but if he did not, he certainly would now!), and judging by his surroundings… he was not in any of Stark properties, which was disturbing. </p>
<p>So… “Are you Hydra?” he asked his new interlocutrix flatly, and was rather surprised by an equal flat, and also cold, flash in her eyes. </p>
<p>“No,” she spat with such vitriol that made Steve’s look restrained for comparison, “never! What gave you this idea, even?!”</p>
<p>Tony blinked – he was not his best at reading people…only he was very good at it, and right now, his instincts told him that she was not lying. “Rumlow told me,” he said vaguely, “something about restarting Hydra-?”</p>
<p>“All he needs,” his interlocutrix said with a sudden, surprising bitterness, “is some minions and the logo on the wall. He already loves to hurt people and all – why would he need you?” She paused and added, with more hesitation in her voice. “Mr. Stark? What did Rumlow mean when he said that you told him that you and captain America weren’t friends anymore-?”</p>
<p>“Precisely that,” Tony said with his own bitterness. “No more and no less. The Avengers-“ he paused, as he saw his ‘rescuer’ Rumlow enter the room, followed by another man – somewhat younger than Rumlow, somewhat more human-looking than Crossbones – but still very big, very muscled…but clearly not hostile either. “Um, and who are you?”</p>
<p>“This is Grant Douglas Ward, and I’m Kara Lynn Palamas,” the woman spoke, sounding authentically excited once again. “Mr. Stark, we’re honored to host you at CyberTek!”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Tony almost smiled despite himself – somehow, unlike Rumlow, this woman – Kara Lynn Palamas – seemed to be genuinely friendly. “But, uh, Mr. Rumlow, is he a friend of yours-?”</p>
<p>“No!” All three replied very empathetically. </p>
<p>“Then how and why did I get here?”</p>
<p>“I don’t like the Avengers, and I don’t know where S.H.I.E.L.D. is, so I took you to the people that I know and get along with,” Crossbones shrugged. “How are you feeling? Can survive a trip to the Stark tower now?”</p>
<p>“Let me see,” Tony frowned. In this airy, well-lit, warm, civilized room, Rumlow now looked to be a human – a rather ugly and grotesque human, but only that. Certainly nothing in the Hulk’s league, for a start. (Tony frowned – had he imagined Crossbones’ monstrosity back in Siberia? Given the circumstances, it was not too impossible, and yet…) He got onto his feet and examined himself. </p>
<p>“…I expected it to be worse,” he finally confessed the other people, who were observing him with curiosity and not hostility. </p>
<p>“So did we, but fortunately it was nothing too out of our league,” the other man – Grant – said brightly. “Kara used to be one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s field medics, and I… know something about medicine and First Aid myself. But you and your wife really should let other people examine you.”</p>
<p>“That I will, and thank you,” Tony nodded sincerely – he had gone several rounds with Steve Rogers and lived to tell the tale – not too many people could say that. “However, speaking of Rogers and examination, where’s my suit and other gear-?”</p>
<p>“Hold on a second,” Grant did not sound too offended to Tony’s relief. He and Rumlow exited the room. “Kara-?”</p>
<p>“Here,” Kara rolled her eyes and gave Tony a set of medical robes. “Better?” she called-out into the corridor.</p>
<p>“Yes, thank you!” Grant called back, as he and Rumlow carried a large box of a container. “Here’s your personal belongings, Mr. Stark!” He thrust a pair of latex gloves to the man in question, even as the container was opened and Tony could see what he had left after his fight with Captain Rogers and the Winter Soldier in the bunker. It was a disheartening sight.</p>
<p>“Right,” Tony muttered after sifting through the remains – even he could not work anything out of them with his bare hands, and frankly, in this particular case, he did not even want to. “Since this isn’t Hydra, can I call Pepper-“</p>
<p>“Here,” Grant thrust a completely mundane cell phone into his hands. “You want here to come here first, or for you to go there straightaway?”</p>
<p>…For once Tony did not have an immediate snappy answer.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>/ / /</p>
</div>…But what he did have, however, was a big happy, (pun not intended), upon seeing Pepper, who was escorted by Maria Hill, (and honestly it was about time that that woman started to pull her weight after…everything), who was unharmed, and alive, and unaltered, and just as happy to see him as he was to see her, in record time. The fact that she brought with her some of Tony’s civilian clothing, (as well as one of his Iron Man suits), was only the icing on the cake.<p>“Tony! You are alive! We were so worried!” Pepper exclaimed as she hugged Tony very, very firmly.</p>
<p>“Pep! Right back at you!” Tony replied with his typical brightness, “and speaking of us, how’s Happy?”</p>
<p>“He’s alive, recovering, and will walk again, eventually,” Pepper admitted. “We were setting him up even as you called…” she trailed away and hugged Tony again, just as fiercely as she did the first time, (not that Tony minded).</p>
<p>“Excuse us, but what is wrong with colonel Rhodes?” Grant spoke up for the first time since Pepper and Maria had arrived. Until then, he and his people were measuring Maria Hill up for size (and vice versa).</p>
<p>“Oh, you didn’t see? Strange, it’s all over YouTube, the big face-off in Berlin,” Pepper muttered. “See, Rhodey got hurt, I mean colonel Rhodes was hurt-“</p>
<p>“Oh no, Mrs. Stark, we saw that,” Kara piped-up. “This is actually our point – how is your friend hurt? Ms. Hill here believes that we at CyberTek can help!”</p>
<p>Pepper blinked and looked at Tony. “Well, they patched me up, and I feel quite good actually,” he shrugged. “Maybe they can help Rhodey somehow as well?” He shifted and gave the trio his best CEO look. “But if you think-“</p>
<p>“We don’t.” It seemed that Grant Ward had a special look of his own. “Now, what has happened to him in medical terms?”</p>
<p>“That’s… actually a quite important question,” Tony admitted, as he turned to Maria and Pepper. “Ladies?”</p>
<p>Pepper and Maria looked at each other and told them.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>/ / /</p>
</div><i>Some more time later…</i><p>“Okay, this is the best news that I had since I learned that you’re alive,” Rhodey brightly told his number one male friend, (Pepper was the female, obviously), as he actually walked around his hospital room. “How did you do this?”</p>
<p>“Trade secret, long story, S.H.I.E.L.D., has been working on this for a long time,” Grant Ward shrugged easily. “You’re the first one on whom it is, well, tested.”</p>
<p>“So, I am an S.H.I.E.L.D. lab rat?” Rhodey made a joke, but apparently, it fell flat.</p>
<p>“Kara and I are ex-S.H.I.E.L.D., really, and Rumlow isn’t a part of anything,” Grant sounded dead serious here.</p>
<p>“Oh?” Tony spoke to diffuse the sudden tension. “He mentioned Hydra-“</p>
<p>“Anyone can be Hydra, as long as they have minions, the octopus stencil on their walls and are happy to hurt people while lying to them that they’re making the world a better place,” Ward’s voice did not mention and neither did his gaze. “S.H.I.E.L.D. has its flaws, trust me, when Kara and I tried to make peace with them we got burned-“</p>
<p>“Gee, I wonder why,” Maria muttered from her corner with an atypical emotion for her – bitterness.</p>
<p>“Because Barbara Morse was involved,” Kara’s answer was syrupy, but even more toxic than Maria’s question had been.</p>
<p>And Hill began to swear. Loudly, and crudely, and inventively; the most civil word in her rant was ‘clothes horse’.</p>
<p>“This is very exciting! This is most excitement that I have experienced recently!” Friday exclaimed through Rhodey’s new exoskeleton – nowhere as derived as anything that Tony could have built…but it worked, it worked very well, until now…</p>
<p>“Friday? How did you access Rhodey’s exoskeleton?” he asked instead.</p>
<p>“Very easily,” and Friday launched into a detailed explanation that only a few people could understand, including Tony, naturally. </p>
<p>“Did you intend this?” he asked Grant and his people when Friday’s explanation was finished.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Grant shrugged. “This is a temporary measure only, you need to recover quickly enough-“</p>
<p>“Or what?”</p>
<p>“Grant is just worried that you might end up as his former S.O., John Garret, who went full cyborg, eventually,” Kara spoke up gently. “Of course, he was also a parasite of a person otherwise-“</p>
<p>“Kara-“</p>
<p>“What are you two talking about?”</p>
<p>“My S.O. was a good man, once,” words fell heavy from Grant’s lips, “but he got associated with Hydra and stopped being that. He was not Hydra; he tried to play Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. against each other to try to come out on top. He failed. Fury killed him. Good riddance. He- screwed everything and everyone up, me included-“</p>
<p>“You seem to have figured it all in the end,” Maria Hill said from her corner of the room.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Ward smiled, but mostly with his lips.</p>
<p>“Anyhow, I’m guessing that this means that this exoskeleton isn’t like one of my armors Rhodey; it’s only to help you recover before you put on one of my armors once more!” Tony said brightly.</p>
<p>“…Which actually brings us to an earlier question – what will happen now to the Avengers?” Kara piped-up.</p>
<p>Tony exhaled. “I don’t know, Ms. Palamas,” he told her simply. “I wouldn’t describe our fight so simply as me liking Steve, Steve liking the Winter Soldier, and everyone just piling on because they were bored-“</p>
<p>“But you’re not wrong entirely,” Rhodey spoke up. “That said, Tony, man, the Avengers cannot just break-up!”</p>
<p>“Rhodey! I don’t- Me and Steve- Steve is gone, and so are his faction,” Tony finally managed to say it. “As for as, you’re currently down, Peter is still a kid and we’re lucky that he didn’t get hurt alongside you, or things would’ve been worse, Vision is Vision, Romanoff is gone…at least for now-“</p>
<p>“No, I saw her shadowing us as we got into to see Rhodey,” Rumlow said brightly from his corner of the room. “She might be back sooner than you think!”</p>
<p>“She’s lonely as Hell, and after being a part of a group that’s worse than just being lonely from the start,” Kara Lynn Palamas muttered demurely as well.</p>
<p>“There, see, we can have something, even if the Hulk and Thor are out in space or whatever!” Rhodey sounded like his usual happy self. “Tony, don’t give up on the Avengers just yet-“</p>
<p>“I’ll think about it,” Tony muttered – right now he genuinely did not want to think about the Avengers. “And speaking of thinking, let’s talk about you,” he turned to Grant Ward and his people. “I may own you a favor,” he told Rumlow, but the bigger man cut him off.</p>
<p>“And I’m keeping it for now, thanks for acknowledging,” he grinned, making himself look especially ugly.</p>
<p>“God, are you even human?” Pepper could not help but to ask.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not – completely ogre,” Rumlow snorted.</p>
<p>“…Okay,” Tony muttered to no one in particular, “that’s good to know, really. As for you two,” he turned to Grant and Kara, remembering that they actually were not too close to Rumlow themselves, at least some of the time. “I understand that this is a sales pitch too?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Grant looked uncomfortable for the first time since Tony met him, (which was not too long, but still). “It is. We are trying to make our place in the world, and it includes making nice with you. So maybe we could negotiate something-?”</p>
<p>“I’ll help!” Maria Hill piped up suddenly. Tony blinked. This was the first true enthusiasm he saw in her ever since she came to work for him. And, since he actually liked her, this was good. </p>
<p>“Glad to hear this,” He told brightly. “Pepper, could you please take over for our part in the negotiations? I want to talk with Rhodey some more-“</p>
<p>“Sure, but we’ll talk afterwards,” Pepper shot him a pointed look, and Tony agreed, even as Pep-per left alongside Maria and the others to negotiate.</p>
<p>It was going to be the start of something new, Tony reckoned.</p>
<p>
  <i>The end?</i>
</p>
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